DST keeps buying

The international ICT market was dominated by the flood of quarterly results and several smallish acquisitions, including the fifth in the last two months by DST Systems. At home, it was a very quiet week.

* Good interim numbers from MICROmega, with revenue up 10% and profit up 64%.
* Positive trading updates from Datatec and Vodacom.
* Business Connexion has repurchased its 'A' shares and subsequently delisted.
* Moss Leoka was appointed chairman of Altech.
* Hilton Davies, chairman of Altech, resigned.
* David Redshaw, former CEO of Bytes Technology Group, died.

* The Moroccan government wants to cut its 30% stake in Maroc Telecom.

Look out for further news on a new CEO for Cell C.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Acer acquired iGware, a US-based cloud computing company, for $320 million.

* Adobe bought EchoSign, an electronic signature group.

* American Tower Corp (ATC) purchased the towers of Millicom's Columbian subsidiary for $182 million. Last year, ATC bought Cell C's towers, and earlier this year, ATC bought part of MTN Ghana's infrastructure.

* Dell acquired Force10 Networks, a data centre networking company.

* DST Systems bought ALPS Holdings, a company that focuses on servicing and gathering assets, for $250 million. This is the company's fifth acquisition in the last two months.

* Electronics for Imaging purchased Entrac Technologies, a provider of self-service and payment solutions for business services, including mobile printing.

* Google acquired Fridge, a social network service, in a deal that is aimed at enhancing Google +.

* Google bought PittPatt, a company that develops facial recognition technologies.

* Intel purchased Fulcrum Microsystems, an Ethernet switch chipmaker.

* Logitech International acquired Mirial, an Italian provider of personal and mobile video conferencing solutions.

* Maxim Integrated Products bought Austria-based chipmaker SensorDynamics, for $130 million.

* Microsemi purchased Zarlink Semiconductor for $547.7 million.

* Oracle acquired Ksplice, a start-up that provides 'zero downtime' update technology.

* Research In Motion bought Swedish video editing company, JayCut.

* Riverbed Technologies purchased New Zealand-based Aptimize, a company that provides software for the optimisation of Web content for faster delivery.

* Riverbed Technologies acquired UK-based Zeus Technology, a company that optimises virtualisation and cloud computing technology. The deal was worth $110 million.

* Spreadtrum Communications, a Chinese fabless semiconductor developer, bought Telegent Systems, a provider of semiconductor and software solutions for the reception of live broadcast TV on mobile phones.

* Stratos, a remote communications service provider, purchased Blue Ocean Wireless, a company that provides GSM coverage onboard cruise ships.

* Verint Systems, a provider of analytic software and hardware for the security, surveillance and business intelligence markets, acquired Vovici, a provider of survey software and analytics services.

* Xerox's ACS unit bought Education Sales and Marketing, a company that runs call centres handling student enrolment and other outsourced functions for for-profit colleges.

* Excellent quarterly results from Apple.

* Very good quarterly figures from F5 Networks, Polycom, Qualcomm, Riverbed Technology and VMware.

* Good quarterly numbers from Altera, Check Point Software Technologies, Compuware, EMC, Ericsson, Informatica, Millicom International Cellular and NCR.

Satisfactory quarterly results from CA Technologies, Flextronics, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Tyco Electronics, Verizon Communications (back in the black), Vodafone, Wipro, Xerox and Xilinx.

* Mediocre quarterly results from Etisalat, Hynix Semiconductor and TeliaSonera.

* Mixed quarterly figures from AMD, with revenue down but profit up; AT&T, with revenue up but profit down; eBay, with revenue up but profit down; SanDisk, with revenue up but profit down; Seagate Technologies, with revenue up but profit down; Western Digital, with revenue up but profit down; and Yahoo, with revenue down but profit up.

* Quarterly losses from Freescale Semiconductor, LG Display, Nokia, Philips, ST-Ericsson and TomTom.

* The appointments of Lowell McAdam as CEO of Verizon Communications; Michael Pangia as president and CEO of Aviat Networks, a provider of wireless transmission systems; and Olaf Swantee as CEO of Everything Everywhere, the UK's largest mobile phone operator that was formed last year when Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom merged their UK mobile operations.

* The resignations of Tom Alexander, CEO of Everything Everywhere; Chuck Kissner (stays on as chairman), president and CEO of Aviat Networks; and Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications.

* Planned IPO filings from MobiTV, a mobile video provider, and Violin Memory, a flash memory storage provider.

* A good IPO on Nasdaq by Skullcandy, a maker of designer headphones.

International:
* The possible acquisition by Google of InterDigital, a wireless technology developer and licenser.

Africa:
* The acquisition by France Telecom of Congo China Telecom, a mobile operator in the DRC that is 51% owned by ZTE (China).
* The purchase by MTNL (India) of the Zimbabwean government's 51% stake in TelOne.

South Africa:
* Further news on a new CEO for Cell C.

* The number of worldwide mobile payment users will reach 141 million this year, up 38.2% from 2010, according to Gartner.
* Worldwide semiconductor revenue is expected to reach $318 billion in 2012, up from an estimated $303 billion this year, according to IDC.

* JSE All share index: Down 0.8%
* Nasdaq: Up 2.5%
* Top SA share movements: BCX 'A' shares (+49%), Ifca Technologies (+33.3%), Labat Africa (+20.7%), Paracon (+8.6%), Poynting Antennas (+20%), Sekunjalo (+18.2%), Vox Telecom (+9.8%) and Zaptronix (-33.3%)

AlwaysOn recently announced its latest Global 250, a listing of the top private companies that are viewed as the most compelling and exciting in the high growth technology marketplace. The selection team includes AlwaysOn staff and partners from several investment firms and banks.

The list is categorised into the following groups:

* Cloud and infrastructure: includes companies such as Dropbox and Joyent;
* Consumer Internet: includes companies such as Facebook, Groupon and Twitter;
* Digital media: includes companies such as Adknowledge and Clearspring Technologies;
* Enablers and devices: includes companies such as ClickSquared and XOS Digital;
* Mobile: includes companies such as Appia and Payfone; and
* SaaS and enterprise: includes companies such as Cloud9 Analytics and Qualys.